LOWER EAST SIDE — Two 17-year-old students at the Essex Street Academy were stabbed during a brawl outside the school on March 31 after a verbal altercation in the academy at 350 Grand St., police said.
The students got into a brief verbal quarrel with the suspects around 3:30 p.m. when one of the victims gave a call sign associated with a particular gang, the other victim told police, though the dispute was broken up by the school’s assistant principal before it turned physical.
About an hour later, at around 4:32 p.m., the first victim got a call from a friend saying the two suspects involved in the scuffle were waiting outside for both of them, according to a police report.
The two victims went outside to the corner of Broome and Essex streets and began arguing with the suspects, and the argument escalated into a brawl when one of the suspects punched the first victim, police said.
The first victim realized he had been stabbed in the abdomen as the suspects fled northbound on Essex Street, according to a police report. The victims chased the suspects to the intersection of Delancey and Suffolk streets, at which point the other victim realized he had also been stabbed, authorities said.
Both victims then fled in different directions, according to a police report.
They were treated for non-life-threatening injuries at Bellevue Hospital, according to police.
It is unclear at this point whether the suspects were also students at the school, police said. No arrests have been made.
The victim who used the gang call sign told police he did so because he thought it was "cool," authorities said.
Essex Street Academy did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Education emphasized that the department prioritizes students’ safety, but declined to comment on the incident as it did not take place within the school.
